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Chinese pollution documentary raises questions, energy and literacy

Under The Dome, a banned documentary on pollution in China, has triggered a national conversation that will lead to drastic environmental action, experts say.

The documentary "Under the Dome" was viewed by hundreds of millions of outraged people in China for a week before it was abruptly banned there. (MARK RALSTON / AFP/GETTY IMAGES file photo)

While experts always understood how significant the problem of pollution was, "Under the Dome" has educated people in a way that experts and scientists couldn’t, said Tao Hu, China program director with the World Wildlife Federation U.S. (ChinaFotoPress / GETTY IMAGES file photo)

Under the Dome, the smash-hit documentary on pollution in China, may be banned in that country but it has triggered a national conversation that will lead to drastic environmental action, experts say.

“You can’t hide from this,” said Jennifer Turner, director of the China Environment Forum with the Wilson Centre in Washington D.C.

Pollution is hurting the economy and there are concerns about social instability, she said. “I think it (the documentary) could very well lead to an acceleration of dealing with governance hurdles.”

“A big moment is coming to China.”

Under the Dome, a deeply personal year-long investigation by Chai Jing, a well-known investigative reporter, tells the story of China’s economic growth at the expense of the environment. The 103-minute documentary — devastatingly critical of all levels of China government — was recently released online and viewed by hundreds of millions of outraged people in China for a week before it was abruptly banned there.

Since the TED talk-style documentary was first released online, anti-smog protests have broken out in Shanxi, the coal-mining province, a 24-hour environmental complaint hotline that Jing referred to in the documentary has reported a 610 per cent surge in calls. And Forbes said that companies in the environmental monitoring business have seen their stocks climb.

It’s a very influential documentary, said Tao Hu, China program director with the World Wildlife Federation U.S. “. . . much like what Silent Spring was to the U.S. decades ago,” he said, referring to the book by Rachel Carson that many say ignited the environmental movement in the U.S.

While experts always understood how significant the problem of pollution was, Under the Dome has educated people in a way that experts and scientists couldn’t, said Hu.

China’s pollution problems were not a secret — stories about air quality have made headlines for years, and its water crisis has been well-documented. But in the documentary, Chai laid out important issues in compelling and even personal ways.

At one point early on, she interviews a six-year-old in Shanxi, one of the most polluted places on earth.

“Have you ever seen the stars?” Chai asks.

“No,” says the girl.

“Have you ever seen a blue sky?” She girl says: “I have seen a sky that’s a little bit blue.”

“But have you ever seen white clouds?”

“No,” the girl answers.

The documentary has ignited such a storm that the government is worried the environmental angst may lead to social unrest, said Hu.

“The Chinese government will deal with the (pollution) problem much faster now.”

This year, China is expected to finalize its 13th five-year plan, which will draw the roadmap for the country’s economic and social development between 2016 and 2020.

Ailun Yang, the China strategist for the ClimateWorks Foundation in Washington D.C., said it is bound to include extensive plans to deal with pollution, and with the implementation of existing environmental laws.

“The pressure is on the government to deal seriously with all of those issues,” she said. “Everyone is watching.”

Turner, who wrote her dissertation on water management in China in 1995 and regularly travels there, said the Chinese success model has been decentralization of power to local governments to develop the economy. “But (the government) didn’t build any checks and balances . . . a federal system with no checks. They are now playing catch up.”

Under the Dome may not solve “all problems but it raised the energy literacy of the country.”

“Can you imagine that one in five people, in say Canada, have watched a show or a documentary and that almost everyone is talking about the exact same thing,” said Turner.

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